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Funding Alert: HRTech Startup Skillenza Raises $1 Mn Funding

Bengaluru-based HR tech startup Skillenza has announced that it has raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round led by CBA Capital’s Education Catalyst Fund (ECF). Existing investors Blume Ventures and Tracxn Labs have also invested along with Let’sVenture, CIO Angel Network, Keiretsu Forum, and Hyderabad Angels.

In Oct 2017, the startup secured Rs 4.7 crore in a seed round led by Blume Ventures and Indian Angel Network. It had received Rs 1.6 crore in angel funding in 2015.

The current round would be utilized to create new modules for assessment of software engineers and expand into tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India, a statement from the company said.

Skillenza’s SaaS component is the assessment engine that can verify software engineers and data scientists and is being sold separately to customers. The marketplace component has about 500K registered users who participate in hackathons and get verified. It also counts Indian startups like Ola, Knowlarity, Zivame, Simplilearn, Hike as its clients.

Skillenza is currently addressing two pain points at the same time — first, bridging the gap between enterprises and great talent, and second, how individuals shape their professional careers and find the right opportunity.

On the investment, Subhendu Panigrahi, Founder, Skillenza said,

“The current round will be utilized to create new modules for assessment of software engineers and expand into Tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India. We are working on credentialing students coming out of engineering colleges and creating a global repository of final year undergraduates. These verified and ranked profiles will help companies to hire talent quickly.”

Vishal Bharat, Managing Director, CBA Capital, said,

“What attracted us to Skillenza is its offering that combines the creative process with 21st-century skills. It enables participants to explore their skills in the areas that are close to their heart. Subhendu brings the required energy to grow this business. CBA Capital is excited to join Skillenza’s growth journey over the next few years”.

Skillenza has already achieved initial product-market fit and is now building tools to do a deeper analysis of the skills and abilities of a software engineer or programmer. The next target is to grow its user base to 1 Mn by 2020 and engage students and professionals from Tier 2 and 3 cities. Also, the HRTech startup is looking to introduce a certification program for the developers.

“We have increased our market penetration and the kind of customers we are working with. This format of hiring is becoming popular in large enterprises now, and it’s no longer a tool that risk-taking startups are willing to experiment,” Subhendu Panigrahi added.